Vitamin E is composed of eight naturally occurring tocols. Four are tocopherols, which possess a saturated hydrocarbon tail, and four are tocotrienols, which possess three trans double bonds in the hydrocarbon tail. The tocols are known to have beneficial health effects when provided as a dietary supplement. The tocotrienols have recently been shown to have beneficial health effects not seen with the tocopherols.
Commercially available tocotrienols are purified from natural oils, where they occur as complex mixtures of tocotrienols and tocopherols. It is very difficult to separate the pure tocotrienols from these mixtures and therefore these compounds are very expensive. It is also difficult to obtain the tocotrienols in concentrations high enough for use in some applications.
This invention relates to the preparation of a composition containing tocotrienols and other compounds, the compositions produced by the method and the use of the compositions in a dose effective to prevent and mitigate the effects of radiation.